- A new report found that 79% of people had seen porn before they were 18 years old.
- It found that 47% of young people aged 16-21 believe girls 'expect' sex to involve physical aggression.
- The adult content parents may have accessed in their youth is 'quaint' compared to today's online porn.
A new report has found that more children are viewing violent pornography, with 79% of young people seeing it before they are 18 years old.
The new data also found that of those who had seen pornography as a minor, 66% had seen pornography depicting sexual coercion, and 73% had seen at least one degrading act.
This exposure is leading to people believing that sexual violence is normal and desired, with 47% of young people aged 16-21 stating that girls 'expect' sex to involve physical aggression such as airway restriction or slapping, and a further 42% saying that most girls 'enjoy' acts of sexual aggression.
The UK Child's Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, said, "I will never forget the girl who told me about her first kiss with her boyfriend, aged 12, who strangled her. He had seen it in pornography and thought it normal."
—Children's Commissioner for England (@ChildrensComm) January 31, 2023
"Pornography, especially when viewed at a young age, colors expectations and teaches children to view women as objects of sex rather than as actual people." a 20-year-old man, who first saw pornography at age 12, told the report authors.
With the report finding that the average age to firm consumes pornography was just 13, concerns are rising over how easy it is for children to access adult content.
The report found that most children do not find porn on adult websites but rather on social media, with 41% of children having seen such content on Twitter.
Parents are misunderstanding porn
De Souza, who authored the report, said that technology had advanced so quickly that parents may be underestimating what their children can access.
"The adult content which parents may have accessed in their youth could be considered 'quaint' in comparison to today's world of online pornography. Depictions of degradation, sexual coercion, aggression, and exploitation are commonplace and disproportionately targeted against teenage girls," said De Souza.
Research by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and Revealing Reality, referenced in De Souza's report, found that 75% of parents believed their child would not have seen pornography.
Part of the report explores children being pressured by their peers to view pornography.
One 16-year-old girl in the focus group said, "I remember people being picked on because they hadn't watched porn before, and that is kind of shocking thinking that now."
The report comes as the UK Online Safety Bill passes through the parliament.
Richard Collard, NSPCC Associate Head of Child Safety Online Policy, said in a statement to Insider, "these findings show we cannot underestimate the sheer number of children of all ages that are being exposed to online pornography on a daily basis. The negative and long-lasting impact this can have on children and their views on sex and healthy relationships is deeply worrying."
